Israeli Research Will Have You Sleeping Better

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Reported by Shalle McDonald
Written by Kasey Barr

According to the Department of Health and Human Services 64 million Americans regularly suffer from insomnia. Insomnia is not a disorder in and of itself, but rather a symptom of various conditions including disease, depression, and anxiety. There are many drugs on the market to help individuals overcome their sleeping woes. However, HHS also published a study acknowledging that most drugs have limited success and many individuals complain that the side effects are sometimes more troublesome than the lack of sleep.

According to a recent report by Israel21C, An Israeli Company is marketing a new drug that works with the natural process of the body to help sufferers of insomnia initiate and maintain sleep throughout the night.

Neurim Pharmaceutials, a company founded by Israeli scientist Professor Nava Zisapel at Tel Aviv University, has developed a drug called Circadin after years of research and clinical testing.

“Circadin not only improves the onset of sleep, but also the quality of sleep,” said Zisapel, “People who take the drug have reported that they have better daytime functioning and an improved quality of life.”

Most sleep medication actually suppresses brain activity and can induce unwanted symptoms ranging from a loss of coordination to short-term amnesia. Circadin, however, works by assisting the natural patterns of sleep in the body. The hormone melatonin that is found naturally in the body and created by the pineal gland, triggers the brain to signal the body to rest. The Pineal gland gradually releases melatonin moving the body slowly into a sleep cycle.

Those who have insomnia often have a lack of melatonin or suppress its release because of tension, anxiety, and depression. Also, since darkness triggers the release of melatonin, spending late nights under fluorescent lighting can reduce the amount of melatonin in the body. “Circadin produces melatonin in the same way as the gland: It starts slowly at around 10:00pm, gets to a peak at around 2:00am, and gradually stops by the morning. It releases melatonin in a gradual manner,” explains Zispel.

A recent clinical trial in the US tested the drug on patients 18 to 55 and found it to be effective. Zispel believes, however, that the drug will be most helpful for the mature population. She explains that when individuals age, the pineal gland, which produces the hormone melatonin, often becomes calcified and is unable to produce the same quantities of melatonin, explaining why much of the elderly population finds it increasingly difficult to maintain their sleep.

The drug was approved in the European market in 2007 with excellent reports. It is currently being sold in Israel and Zisapel hopes that it will soon be approved by the American Food and Drug Administration.

Zisapel continues to expand the research she began during her post-doctoral work at the Weizmann Institute, and is now conducting trials on how to treat insomnia brought on by pain and depression as well as a treatment for Parkinson’s disease.

Source: Israel21C